Inflammation of the eye and injuries to health by arsenical wall-paper poisoning / by Jabez Hogg.

  • Hogg, Jabez, 1817-1899.
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Inflammation of the eye and injuries to health by arsenical wall-paper poisoning / by Jabez Hogg. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    pass to the chronic stage, ciliary blepharitis, the cilia fall out, nebulous opacities of the cornea appear, and the case is of an unusually obstinate character. The dimness of sight complained of depends en- tirely upon the viscidity of the discharge, and the haziness of the cornea thereby produced, than to any actual loss of visual perception ; the other symp- toms partake of a more general or consti- tutional character, as tension and swelling of the lids, an erythematous blush over the cheeks, irri- tation of the Schneiderian membrane, severe fits of sneezing, and bleeding of the nose. The disease is pretty much the same whether it occurs in the child or the adult, and does not yield to ordinary remedies; stimulating local applications aggra- vate it ; whilst warm, soothing, sedative applications give considerable relief, and change of air acts as a charm. The extremely unyielding nature of the symptoms characterises it from the conjunctivitis of arsenic given medicinally As briefly as possible I will give a general outline of a few cases. Case I. Acute Arsenical Conjunctivitis,—My attention was first attracted some twelve or fourteen years ago to arsenical poisoning in the case of a friend, Mr. S., a gentleman given to natural history pursuits, who consulted me for an attack of acute conjunctivitis. It appeared that having purchased a collection of shells at a sale, he had been devoting himself for several days to the task of removing them from their old mountings, for the purpose of rearranging them. His work was, however, in- terrupted by what he supposed was only an ordinary cold in the head ; but the pain and irritation of the eyes, together with an excessive mucous discharge from the eyes and nose, and an erysipelatous blush over the face, greatly alarmed him, and I was sent for. On becoming acquainted with the nature of his occupation, I at once gathered up a good deal of the dust, and examined it under the microscope ; and finding a large amount of some crystalline particles